Moving hastily, House and Senate negotiators have reached a deal on a compromise stimulus bill, various media sources are reporting. Here is coverage from the Huffington Post. Details of the pact are not immediately known but look for a substantial investment of food stamp/nutrition assistance in the bill - likely in the $16 billion to $20 billion range. Not sure if accelerated depreciation sought by citrus/tree fruit and vineyard interests made it into the bill. Status of E-verify also a question for now until more details emerge.....
Here is the link to the Senate-passed version of the stimulus bill, with the appropriations committee analysis here. . The House version can be found here.
Reacting to the news that yet another Peanut Corporation of America plant was closed after Salmonella was detected at the facility, Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) today said that FDA oversight of state inspections of food processing facilities does not work. Previous media reports have shown that this plant may have gone four years without a food safety inspection, a fact confirmed by FDA officials last week.The Salmonella outbreak has killed eight and sickened 600 nationwide, including three in Harkin’s home state of Iowa.
“Hundreds of people sickened and in the worst cases, lives lost – all because of a food-borne illness. We’ve been here before, and we cannot afford to be here again,” said Harkin. “This inspection systems does not work. Our committee heard firsthand of the lapses last week and now we are seeing the results of food processing facilities that go uninspected.”
At a hearing before the Senate Agriculture Committee last week, which Harkin chairs, FDA officials testified that the Peanut Corporation of America’s own testing found 12 incidents of Salmonella at the plant since 2007. Under law, the company does not have to report these findings to the FDA and despite these warnings, the last time federal inspectors were sent to the plant, prior to the recent Salmonella outbreak, was in 2001.
Following the hearing, Harkin called for FDA to release to Congress records detailing the inspection report from the Georgia state Department of Agriculture to conduct food safety inspections of the Peanut Corporation of America plant. The FDA has yet to submit the documents. Today, Harkin sent a letter to the agency pressing them for the documentation.
“Before another American gets sick, before another child eats a peanut product that may be contaminated, Congress must get to the heart of this matter,” he concluded. “I urge the FDA to release the records on state contracts immediately.”
The full text of the letter follows.
February 11, 2009
Dr. Stephen Sundlof
Director, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
Food and Drug Administration
10903 New Hampshire Avenue
Silver Spring, MD 20903
Dear Dr. Sundlof:
The record of the hearing of this Committee on Thursday, February 5, 2009, including your testimony at that hearing, shows that prior to the recent Salmonella outbreak, FDA last inspected the Blakely, GA Peanut Corporation of America plant in 2001. FDA contracted with the state of Georgia to inspect the plant in 2006. During the time period from 2001 to 2006, the plant was not inspected by FDA but was inspected by Georgia state authorities, but not under direction of or under contract with FDA. In 2007 and 2008 shipments that PCA testing showed positive for Salmonella left the plant and made their way into the food supply. When the FDA inspected the plant in January 2009, several violations of processing plant cleanliness standards were discovered. According to FDA records, was this the condition of the plant during the time that the FDA contracted with the state of Georgia for inspections?
During the hearing, I requested from FDA copies of relevant records and documents involving inspections by Georgia state authorities. Please provide documents covering the period from FDA’s last inspection in 2001 forward and which include all reports or communications involving inspections of the plant by Georgia state authorities, including dates and the number of inspections, all communications and reports regarding such inspections that are in the possession of FDA, and PCA internal laboratory test results. For each document, please specify when the FDA received these documents. What findings did the reports to the FDA concerning the inspections contain and were more corrective actions prescribed by the FDA?
Additionally, I request the inspection report from 2009 for PCA’s plant in Plainview, TX and laboratory test results resulting from this inspection. What findings did the reports to the
FDA concerning the inspections contain and were more corrective actions prescribed by the FDA?
Thank you for your testimony at the hearing and for your follow-up to provide these requested documents.Sincerely,
Hubbard testimony - Feb. 5 - Alliance for a stronger FDA
Excerpts from the testimony of William Hubbard before the Senate Agriculture Commitee on Feb. 5:
William K. Hubbard Alliance for a Stronger FDA Before the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry United States Senate Washington, DC
WHAT IS NEEDED – A MODERN, RISK-BASED FOOD SAFETY SYSTEM Despite the considerable gloom we have been seeing in recent years related to the failuresof our food safety system, there is great reason to be optimistic that we can successfully fix its many flaws. The key will be to move from the current reactive, fragmented system to one that is focused on prevention. FDA and the industry have already demonstrated the possibilities, through development of procedures for preventive controls for low-acid canned foods, seafood, and juice. Known generally as Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points, or HACCP, it is a methodology under which producers undertake four steps to assure the safety of their food, and whose complexity is based on the risks posed to the food: 1) Analyze hazards, that is, understand what hazards their food might be subjected to sothat they can eliminate them, 2) Develop a food safety plan under which they will take the necessary steps to control the dentified hazards, 3) Document the steps the facility takes to implement the plan, thereby creating a recordof how they successfully control the hazards, and can thus assure both regulators and their customers that they are always vigilant about food safety, and 4) Meet standards for minimizing risk in their food, such as by periodic testing forhazards to assure that the finished product is indeed uncontaminated.
These are often fairly simple, common sense steps, but they have shown a remarkablecapacity to effectively prevent food contamination. In the case of a peanut butter processor, for example, the four steps might be implemented as follows: 1) Hazard identification would likely be focused on bacterial contamination, 2) The food safety plan would identify the need to a) roast the raw peanuts atsufficiently high temperature to ensure that any bacteria arriving from the farm is killed, then, b) keep the processing equipment clean so that the peanut butter is not exposed to bacteria while being processed and packaged. This would also include the need to guard against rodent and insect infestation, leaky roofs, and any other threat to equipment sanitation. 3) Documentation might include only temperature recording of the roaster while it isin operation and the recording of regular, thorough cleaning of the processing equipment; and, finally, 4) Performance Standards could be met by periodic sampling and testing of the finalproduct, to confirm that it is free of bacteria.Under such a new paradigm, FDA’s role would shift from its current “gotcha” mode via random inspections to one in which they set the requirements for preventive controls and any necessary quantitative tolerances for contaminants, train and educate processors in the use of such controls, assess the adequacy of firms’ food safety plans, and oversee an inspection regime under which FDA, state, local, and other third-party inspectors can confirm the proper implementation of food safety plans. WHAT IS NEEDED FROM CONGRESS FDA cannot move to the type of modern food safety system that is needed withoutstatutory change. Specifically, I believe the Congress should enact legislation with the following elements: First, empower FDA to mandate preventive controls for all food. Many, if not most, large processors have already adopted some form of preventive controls, but such a system will only be as strong as its weakest link, and FDA must be specifically charged with requiring universal HACCP-like processes. Second, give FDA the resources to be successful in a new food safety system. In the 1970s, when FDA’s food program was at its zenith, its budget was one-half of the agency’s budget, and that could be a goal for restoring the program to health. It wouldrequire additional funding of about $500 million, or about 2 cents a week for eachAmerican. Without the resources to strengthen the FDA, no authorities can or will bring the change that is needed, but I believe the vast majority of Americans would gladly paya penny every few days for a safer food supply. Indeed, the cost to the taxpayer would likely be recouped by savings to consumers through the elimination of just one major outbreak a year. Third, enact long overdue enforcement authorities for FDA, such as mandatory recall authority, annual registration for all food facilities, a revised administrative detention authority, accreditation of private laboratories, and a stronger traceback authority. Fourth, direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop an effective crisis management system that coordinates the response to foodborne disease outbreaks among CDC, FDA, and state and local government; cuts through the current bickering and turf battles among those entities; and effectively shortens the response time and resolution of future outbreak.And, fifth, authorize and fund a food safety training academy that will provide uniform, science-based training for all food inspectors, at all levels of government and in the private sector.
A NEED TO MOVE FROM TALK TO ACTION In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, today’s hearing is another in a series that Congress has heldto highlight instances where FDA needs to improve, and I agree with your concerns that FDA is not as effective as it can and should be. In the case of food, we have a real dichotomy between our rhetoric and our action. As I noted earlier, we say we want a strong FDA and a strong food safety system, but our actions belie that stated objective. We have not given FDA the authority and resources it needs to be the agency we want it to be, and then we are critical of it when it fails to meet expectations. Meanwhile, as report after report recommends dramatic change in our food safety oversight, the number of foodborne disease outbreaks have risen from about 100 per year fifteen years ago to350 per year more recently. That is a record for which we should be truly embarrassed, and I sincerely hope that you and your colleagues will agree with my conclusions and resolve to act upon them.
(...lyric from 'Savoy Truffle' --The Beatles White Album)
Just want to let everyone know that although the economy’s in the toilet, there appears to be a path to avoid ‘mild cognitive impairment’ for us all, unless you’re like me & have led a sordid life (at least in my younger days) of quasi-self-impairment. Nevertheless, a recent study from the Columbia University Medical Center lists foods included in a Mediterranean-style diet, rich in choices such as whole-grain bread & pastas, olive oil, spinach, eggplant, tomatoes, salmon, garlic, yogurt, almonds, and capers to maintain brain health & mental acuity.
Hey, I'm all for maintaining my brain health, and being of the Mediterranean ilk I do partake in most if not all of these foods. They’re tasty, relatively inexpensive & mildly odiferous, which is OK for an anti-socialite such as myself. Now, I consider the ‘garlic-eater’ ethnic slur by Lionel Barrymore’s character Mr. Potter in ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ a badge of honor. I even thought that way when I first saw the movie as a kid. Garlic-eater? Yes, I am. So what else is new?
Salmon’s something else. I eat a fair amount of sushi, and consume lox a couple times a week for breakfast as well. Then I saw this:
Wild Salmon vs Farm Raised Salmon
David Suzuki Foundation: In January 2001, BBC News produced a program "Warnings from the Wild, The Price of Salmon". The program cited a pilot study conducted by Dr Easton with David Suzuki Foundation. The study found that farm raised salmon and the feed they were fed appeared to have a much higher level of contamination with respect to PCBs, organo-chlorine pesticides and polybrominated diphenyl ethers than did wild salmon. It concluded that it seems that contamination in farm fish comes from the feed.
EWG Report: In July 2003, the Environmental Working Group EWG released a report stating that farm raised salmon purchased in the United States contain the highest level of PCBs in the food supply system. In the report, EWG reported that farm raised salmon have 16 times PCBs found in wild salmon, 4 times the levels in beef, and 3.4 times the levels in other seafood. EWG recommends that consumers choose wild salmon instead of farm raised salmon, and they should eat an 8 oz serving of farm raised salmon no more than once a month.
Science Journal: In January 2004, the journal Science warned that farm raised salmon contain 10 times more toxins (PCBs, dioxin, etc.) than wild salmon. The study recommends that farm raised salmon should be eaten once a month, perhaps every two months as they pose cancer risks to the human beings.
Eeek!! ‘Perhaps every two months’?! What about, like thirty servings over that timeframe? Am I hazmat material? So I dash to my lox purveyor at the local deli, run to the counter and ask the old guy to show me the package. Once I see the words ‘Alaskan Wild Salmon’, I at once can breathe easier, feel smarter & healthier besides. Suddenly, I am the man. But I knew, in true Catch-22 form, I was too smart to eat that nasty farm-raised stuff anyway.
Which brings us to my love & the bane of my existence all at the same time, tomatoes. The above article implies, as many previous reports have stated, that tomatoes are healthy, chock-full with lycopene & anti-carcinogens, so at least I can reassure myself that in this, the economy of the crapster, I’m at least selling the right product rather than asbestos or Chinese throwing stars.
But alas, the overall tomato market remains below the Mendoza line, seemingly with no end to the massacre in sight. Mexican imports are priced at the minimum according to the U.S. Department of Commerce Suspension Agreement, the hothouse tomato market is a debacle, and despite two major freezes & less product packed, there’s been no Florida market reaction whatsoever.
However, I’m confident this article, if presented correctly, will solve all of our problems. Heck, some layout editor deemed it crucial enough to give it three half-columns on page 16 in today’s Metro section of the Chicago Sun-Times.
Yes we can (eat locally in winter) and other top headlines
A shout out to my younger brother Doug - Happy Birthday. You deserve a great day today. Now, on to the day's news...
I see that locavores are doggedly insisting that eating local is doable, even in the Northeast U.S. during the winter months. From the Boston Globe:
In the winter, however, even the most committed New Englander could be forgiven for falling off that wagon. People cite deeply felt reasons for becoming locavores, or those who choose to eat food grown and produced in the region where they live. (The term was coined in 2005 by a group in the Bay Area and has since become ubiquitous; it was the New Oxford American Dictionary's word of the year for 2007.) They want to support the local economy, eat what tastes best right now, minimize food miles, maximize nutrition, connect with their communities, and live in tune with the seasons. But after enough root vegetables, oranges from California and blueberries from Chile could start to look pretty appealing.
Not necessarily, say many who eat predominantly local food throughout the winter. With a little planning, it's surprisingly easy to be a locavore in the winter. Even in New England.
TK: Eating local has taken on the form of a religion, with followers only grudgingly forgiven if they are tempted by the brazen Chilean blueberry or the loose morals of the orange from California. Please, stop the charade. It's too painful to watch for those of us who don't observe your strange sacraments.
Other headlines snatched from the Web:
Peterson no fan of stimulus bill and Obama appointments From AgriNews Peterson was critical of the federal stimulus package making its way through Congress. He said he'd support a smaller package, somewhere in the $400 billion to $500 billion neighborhood, focused on infrastructure improvements that need to be done anyway and helping the unemployed.
Part of my responsibility is to find people who share my concern and have more expertise than I do. People we nominate will be people who understand this issue and have the desire to effect change. The specifics of how we can do this will come from the experts. My job is to listen to the president, who is the ultimate vision maker, articulate his vision to the people who work in this department and add my two cents' worth. The vision is, he wants more nutritious food in schools.
Grocery price war threatens margins From Forbes As economic conditions continue to deteriorate, shoppers are increasingly seeking out the lowest prices--especially on company-branded products--raising the stakes for stores wanting to be seen as offering the best value for the buck."While we expect the 'trade in' from the restaurants and 'trade over' to private label to benefit the supermarkets, we do not believe it will be enough to offset pricing pressure from competitors," Weinswig said, pointing to price-slashing at regional grocers and promotions for lower prices in the future. Furthermore, Weinswig expects Wal-Mart to boost its private-label offerings. The retailer's private-label offerings currently account for 16.0% of products compared to 27.0% at Kroger and 25.0% at Safeway.
For John Mackey, chief executive officer of Whole Foods, companies should focus not on boosting profits but on finding a deeper purpose. Mackey, who delivered two public addresses Tuesday, argued that the most successful form of capitalism is what he called “conscious capitalism,” an attitude he said Whole Foods has attempted to espouse in its business dealings. Those seeking profits — like those seeking happiness — will find that both profits and happiness come only out of a larger search for purpose.“I want us to evolve from the profit focus to the purpose focus, from the short term to the long term,” Mackey said.
Senate stimulus bill lacks House E-verify provision From Federal Computer Week The Senate's $838 billion economic stimulus package approved today would not require E-Verify employment verification for all contracts created through stimulus funding; the House version of the measure has that requirement.
The stare-down shows how fraught relations between retailers and their suppliers are becoming amid the severe slump in consumer spending. Grocery stores across the globe are putting growing pressure on food and drink companies to lower prices or to offer other more favorable terms.Faced with penny-pinching consumers and the growing strength of discount stores, retailers are desperate to cut prices, and a growing number are asking suppliers to help foot the bill.Meanwhile, consumer-goods companies such as Unilever are struggling with a drop in demand from stores whose customers are trading down to cheaper private-label brands. Earlier this month, Kraft Foods Inc. lowered its earnings guidance for the year as retailers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., cut back orders.
It is clear that the "Anglo-Saxon" model of supervision and regulation of the financial system has failed. It relied on self-regulation that, in effect, means no regulation; on market discipline that does not exist when there is euphoria and irrational exuberance; on internal risk management models that fail because - as a former chief executive of Citi put it - when the music is playing you gotta stand up and dance. Furthermore, the self-regulation approach created rating agencies that had massive conflicts of interest and a supervisory system dependent on principles rather than rules. This light-touch regulation in effect became regulation of the softest touch.
Reports warns Fresno County to protect farmland From Mercury.com The report by the American Farmland Trust says 20 percent of farmland lost to development has occurred since 1990. The study assessed soil quality and water availability to identify a half-million acres that should be kept in farming. It says the region faces the same pressures to develop that consumed farmland in Southern California during the past century. If the report is accepted by the council of governments, county planning officials hope to use it to help update the general plan.A new study says planners should put southeastern Fresno County off-limits to development to reduce sprawl and save farmland. My Organic Market announces recycling numbers for 2008
